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Do you believe in God? Sometimes? I have reasons to and no doubt that Angels exist. I’ve seen them. I’ve saved them. And perhaps they’ve saved me. Some are big, some small. Some are black, some white. Some Angels see everything; and some wander without sight.

A White Angel captive in his dark world

Tiny, dirty, and blind. Barely more than a baby. Blinded by birth, or by brute force? We’ll never know.

White Angel is one that cannot see. She is so special, yet she suffers daily. She lives in a shelter where she doesn’t belong. You can sense her sadness the moment you meet her. You can smell it. Her loneliness and her pain permeate every part of the room. Somehow, she survived life alone on the street. With only her ears, her nose, and the feel of the frozen ground beneath her dirty paws to guide her to the garbage piles where she hoped to eat.

Rarely am I at a loss for words. Decades of rescue work made me think I had seen it all. I believe passionately that all animals deserve protection from abuse and abandonment. I feel proud to speak for those souls who have no voice.
White Angel took my voice away. But just for a moment. The first time I set eyes on this “throwaway” dog, I fell silent. But my emotions ran high. Tears? I thought I had them under control. This small girl brought them back to me with a vengeance.

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Tiny, dirty, and blind. Barely more than a baby. Blinded by birth, or by brute force? We’ll never know. What is certain is that she cannot survive shelter life. ROLDA is a no kill shelter. We wish we could save them all. We cannot. Always we need financial support.

But White Angel needs more. This young girl needs unconditional love and a forever home. A space that overflows with affection, patience, and understanding. White Angel needs time. But she has none. We desperately need to find someone who is willing to “invest” in her. To give her hope where none now exists.

Nothing good is easy. But we are certain that this blind baby girl will not disappoint. For some lucky families, for a special someone, White Angel will bring such joy. And her adopters or sponsors will bring light to the dark world our White Angel remains trapped in today.
Please share. Spread the word. Sadly, time is not on this Angel’s side.

PS. Already shared White Angel story? Visit here all the dogs currently in need of a home!

Today we went to feed dogs from around the shelters area. It stopped snowing but the freezing was extreme. Our team noticed 5 small furry balls on a pile of abandoned trash, disposed of at the edge of the road.

One has an infected eye, 2 have severe infections on the skin, and one will probably need complete eye removal surgery…all 5 were dehydrated, skinny and have bellies full of worms.

All have bones problem caused by bad food, hunger and lack of calcium. We don’t know how many we can save. But we can’t refuse them the right to live. We can’t turn our back on these voiceless beings that wait for a miracle to happen to get their life back!

Click here to read the update on the 5 puppies.

Will you be a part of that miracle?

Donate safely by PayPal or Credit Card and save 5 puppies with us!

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I thought that being hungry, freezing, or in pain is the worst. I was wrong. The day I saw you standing in front of me, lifting me up in your arms from the filthy floor to the point where I could look straight into your eyes was the most beautiful experience I lived. But again, I was wrong.

I was welcomed in your home, standing near you on the couch, sniffing you and the meals you cooked, relaxing in a clean, warm, perfect bed. I accepted the leash for you. I tolerated the small cat which was in your home before you got me. In the past, I used to chase smaller animals to eat them…this is how I survived up to the date you met me. But for you, I ignored the cat and even the neighbor’s annoying poodle. Walking aside you in the park made me feel proud… The day I peed on the entrance carpet you got upset, but I couldn’t help it: I was so happy to see you!

I stopped chewing the corner of the couch although evenings were so long, waiting for you to come from work! I stopped because eventually you came and I didn’t want to see you upset because of me. I got used to climbing and waiting for you at the window when you came late and because it was getting dark, we couldn’t go to the park, as we used to. But it was fine. We had each other.

The day you came sick and couldn’t move from the couch it was the first time in my life when I forgot about food and drinking. I stand near you, couldn’t do much but was so afraid I will lose you, my friend! Luckily, it was just a cold.

The day you returned from work crying, I knew something really bad happened. You packed a lot of boxes, and sat down in front of the house, saying nothing. You were not alone, but you couldn’t talk to me. I sat near you, I didn’t know what else to do but had the feeling you need a friend.

You buried your face into my fur and start crying. You keep repeating that we remained without a home and this could have scared me because the darkest time of my life was when I was homeless.

For the first time, I wished I could speak. I was only able to lick your hand and your face. And you hold me. And that was truly the best moment of my life, even better than the day I came into your home. I felt like a loyal, useful friend. And I really didn’t care that we’ll not go back to the house, in the cozy, warm bed as long as I have you near me, forever!

“The dogs that you will meet on sponsoradog.org website are all former street, homeless dogs. Take a moment to meet them, if you search for a new furry companion for you and your family. The amount of gratitude and loyalty that these dogs are ready to offer is tremendous. If you adopted a former street dog, in the past, you know what I mean. You will surely notice that they are ready to learn, adapt and modify their own instincts (which helped them to survive when they were on the streets). They will do everything to please you, to see you happy – and they will notice when you are sad. The bond that is created between our dogs and adopters is unique and inspirational. Rarely, we had failed. But for the impressive numbers of the times when specials bonds were born between these pure souls and the humans that gave them a chance, we are determined to keep going.“ said Dana Costin, President of ROLDA

Please click here sponsoradog.org to discover our dogs ready to go home and adopt one!
Is it not the right moment for you to adopt? You can do 3 other things:
● Sponsor a dog
● Donate here to help us rescue more dogs
● Share our story with your friends. Spread the word out there! Each share will make a difference, you can be sure!

Dogs deserve the same unconditional love they give us! When Buffy, a tiny dog, suffered a severe injury to her eye, we offered to pay for the veterinarian bill because her family could not afford it. Sadly, the vet had no other option but to remove the injured eye. The vet also found Buffy full of fleas and worms, which he also removed.

After the surgery, Buffy was full of energy and ready to go back home. She was happy and healthy again and looking forward to seeing her family (with one eye). We were so excited to reunite Buffy with her family, but not as excited as Buffy was.

But when her family saw that she had lost an eye, they told us that they did not want to keep a one-eyed dog. We were shocked.

Buffy now lives with us at ROLDA, where she awaits a family that will love her unconditionally — as dogs do. Buffy lost more than an eye and her family. She has lost her enthusiasm, energy, and appetite. Sadly, she is depressed. Buffy was disowned by her family because she was no longer a “normal” dog. All they saw was an ugly dog that no longer deserved to be loved and cared for.

You and I know that no animal deserves such an injustice. When you click here to make a donation to ROLDA, you are helping pets with impoverished families receive food and medical care. Not all families are like Buffy’s. Most are extremely grateful for our help.

But we can only help them with your generous donation, which helps to pay for dog food and veterinarian costs. When you click here to donate, you are showing vulnerable pets and their families that you care because everyone deserves kindness. Even one-eye dogs like Buffy.

P.S. Thanks to our donors and ambassadors, we were able to help Buffy before she was abandoned while injured. Together we give hope to abandoned dogs. Would you like to click here to learn more about becoming our dogs’ ambassador?

How you can help dogs like Buffy?

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Adopt a ROLDA dog

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Everyone has their bad days. Everyone has obstacles to overcome in life. How big or small a problem may not matter—it’s still a problem. What does matter is the help and support one receives during such difficult times. We are always grateful — whether we realize it or not — for those who are with us when we feel most alone.

Can you imagine yourself being alone for two years of your life? For two years you had no one to turn to for help. For two years no one offered to help you. What if these were the first two years of your life?

You’re probably thinking, “How could one survive alone during their first two years?”, Pansela did.

After she was separated from her mother, she was left to roam the streets of Romania. She was exposed to many harsh environments, climates, wildlife, and people. She had no knowledge of the world — no one to teach her how to feed herself, or how to find shelter, or how to avoid being hit by cars… Yet, Pansela managed to survive.

She beat impossible odds. She overcame every challenge life threw at her … and she did it alone. Pansela did all this only to be captured and thrown into a small cage, where she was to await her death.

Can you imagine not being able to tell your captors about your struggles? About how hard you’ve worked to live another day only to experience hunger, abuse, and fear. That even though each day of your life you felt unwelcomed in the world, you still did your best to spend another day here.
And even if you could tell them … what if they didn’t care? Or what if they couldn’t do anything to help you? Pansela never could say anything — and she never did.

Thanks to compassionate people like you, Pansela was rescued. At the moment Pansela was living at our ROLDA shelter. Here she received medical treatment, shelter, food, companionship, and more importantly — love. All these things she so desperately needed in her life have made such a positive impact on Pansela… and on us.

Pansela — and hundreds of others dogs like her — are spending the day playing and making new friends, rather than searching through the trash for her next meal. Though she cannot talk, her new joyful spirit tells us she is very grateful for everything you and ROLDA do for her.

But we at ROLDA are hoping that your generosity doesn’t end here. There are an estimated 2.5 million stray dogs in Romania, all going through what Pansela went through for the first two years of her life. Unfortunately, many of these strays fight to survive but never experience what it’s like to be loved.

Only with your generous support, we are able to save more of these neglected and abandoned dogs from their cruel fate. By giving just 10 EUR a month you are helping ROLDA to continue its caregiving efforts and to expand its reach to help as many strays as possible.

These dogs don’t need much to be happy. Compared to the life they lived before arriving at our shelter, dogs like Pansela are extremely grateful for every compassionate act they receive.

By sponsoring one of our dogs for just 10 EUR a month, you are returning life back to them.

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Make a gift for Pansela’s buddies! You are giving them a chance to discover the better side of the world. But most importantly, you are giving them a chance to become someone’s pet. Someone’s friend. To become the new member of a family. You’re giving a dog a chance to show that he or she has so much love to give in return — to show that he or she can bring someone happiness too.

And do you know what? You did that already for Pansela because I saved the best for the last.

We’re hoping that for many dogs from our shelters, the journey doesn’t end here at ROLDA. Though we love having them all, we want better for each of them. Since we’re rescuing dogs every day, our shelter can become overcrowded, which makes it challenging for our limited staff to give each dog more attention.

All the dogs with us at ROLDA fought each day of their lives until we were able to rescue them and give them a chance to experience love. Unfortunately, many dogs do not survive long on the streets, so each dog we save truly has been given another chance.

The last thing we want is for their chance to go to waste. So if you are thinking about adding a pet to your family, please consider one or more of Pansela’buddies. You would be giving each other an opportunity to express love and happiness.

If you don’t have plans to adopt one of our dogs at the moment, please remember that you can become their sponsor for just 10 EUR a month. You would be giving them so much — and they don’t need much to be happy.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Pansela’s journey.
With hopes, Dana

PS: You can always send any one of our dogs a gift. They will be eternally grateful to you.
PS2: Maybe you are curious to see our furry buddies? Click on a dog photo to learn more 

The hurt was so severe, I felt blinded. A searing pain spread like wildfire through my haunches and tail. Running away was impossible. Instead, I tried desperately to drag myself to safety, my back legs felt broken. My spirit, too. We street dogs roam in packs, and we try to stay out of each others way.

But every day, thousands more dogs and puppies are dumped on the streets. The competition for food can lead to fights for survival. In the public shelters run by the government, dogs will tear each other to pieces to avoid starvation.

Out of desperation, I entered another dog’s territory hoping to find some scraps. Starving himself, he retaliated, leaving me with terrible, bloody wounds. I lay in agony, waiting for the end.

I could hear creatures coming. But not dogs. Please, God No. Not humans. I had seen the beatings, and the abuse these men were capable of. At that moment I wished myself dead, for perhaps I would suffer no more.
My wish did not come true.

Your change did make a change for Lori

In this case, that was a good thing. The people who caught me were ROLDA staff, and they took me to a place of safety, a shelter. At the time I did not understand and was terrified. But I now realize just how fortunate I was that ROLDA has a Medical Fund. And that generous people from around the world make sure there is money in it to treat throw-away dogs like me.

We don’t have doctors on the street. We street dogs are abandoned, often abused and always alone. We have no humans to watch over us and make sure we get the medical care we need. We have no one to help us heal. There are no laws enforced to ensure that we are not thrown over bridges, into traffic, and into public trash bins.

It’s why ROLDA’s Medical Fund is critical to the rescue work done here. So many of us suffer horrific injuries from abusive people, trucks, cars, and even each other. Starving and unsterilized we may tear each other to pieces out of desperation.

At the clinic, the pain goes away. Not quickly, but over time our battered, bruised and weakened bodies grow strong. Eventually, we can learn to trust again. Sadly for a few of us, it is too late. The injuries are too great, and we succumb.

In other cases, the scars on the inside are too severe, the memories so violent they still seem real. Traumatized beyond the point that a dog can be adopted, a creature cannot see past the abuser and see a human. It’s impossible to believe that they do not mean harm.

Yet still, ROLDA does not give up on us. Their no-kill mission means that we will always be safe. But first, we must be saved. Without The Medical Fund, so many more of us would die a slow and cruel death in a ditch, or on a side street.

The Medical Fund is the first of many steps to recovery. And it desperately needs new equipment and renovations.
Please consider a donation to help ease the pain of Romania’s millions of abused and abandoned animals. Every little bit helps. We can save one more small soul from suffering on the streets.

Your change can make a greater change!

I am just one dog, in a faraway land. But to me, my life is worth everything, and I value it, even more, having almost lost it. It is only your generosity and caring that have made me whole again.

Yet there are many more awaiting a second chance. It is in your power to give them that opportunity. You can give hope. It is a priceless gift to a creature who has known nothing but need…

Babies Born Ready to Die: In one of the poorest Romanian houses near Galati, lives a canine Cinderella. But we call her Blonda. Her brief two years on this planet have been spent with a short chain around her neck. She was kept alive to “defend” her family and their property. Blonda has been through more in two years than any dog deserves to endure in an entire lifetime.

A meal to this gentle girl meant a few leftovers and scraps from her family’s table. She has already been a mother three times. She saw her first babies drown. Her second litter all died of distemper, save one. Recently three more tiny souls made their way into the world.

In many countries, this would be a thing of joy, a time to celebrate. Not here. Not in a country where 2.5 million strays, abandoned and abused dogs already struggle to survive on the ruthless streets of Romania.
There is no food to feed the new litter, and no vaccinations to keep them healthy.

But they are a few of the lucky ones who ended up in the care of ROLDA. So many other unwanted mothers and their starving babies suffer short, violent lives that end in a ditch, or under the wheels of a car. BLONDA’s owners brought her and her puppies to us.

Not one but two generations of puppies!

Now the small family shares a kennel together, safe because of your support. We need to get them sterilized, microchipped, vaccinated, and ready for adoption. After such a rough start in life, won’t you help us give them a second chance? We deal with emergency situations every day.

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Without the generosity of our supporters, Blonda and her babies would face certain death. ROLDA is part of widespread sterilization programs to end this cruel cycle of unnecessary suffering, and slow, painful deaths.

Be a part of the solution

Help us start more sterilization campaigns, and bring an end to the cycle of suffering. Don’t let beautiful Blonda and her young family be forgotten…

Read more

(Visitor thoughts) When I arrived the dogs were all barking but after a few moments, they stopped…and that was one of the most beautiful silence… I looked around – dogs everywhere- small, white, brown, or black. I didn’t know in front of which kennel to stop at first. And there he was: a tiny white/caramel angel handing his paw.

(Dog thoughts) I knew someone is coming. I learn to distinguish a different sound from all the noise. It’s easy, after a while, to hear a different voice or sense a different smell. We (dogs) all try to find the right spot, the right angle inside the kennel to see better what’s happening.

(Visitor) Come on, pretty – don’t be shy…

(Dog thoughts) She just stopped in front of my kennel and I freeze. What I am going to do now? What if she will leave, too?

(Visitor) Why are you shacking, treasure?

(Dog thoughts) Is she going to notice me? Does she actually look at me, what shall I do now?

The pee – the spots you see now – oh, I am so embarrassed, it’s not what you think… I can be house trained, I know how to behave but right now, I am nervous and a bit scared because your eyes follow all my moves and without even really knowing it, I waited for this moment all my life …

(Visitor) Can you please open this gate and give me that gorgeous boy to hold, yes – that one that staring at me…

(Dog thoughts) Oh, I might soon find out what a real hug means!

Adopt a dog from the shelter!

This dialogue will make a whole new sense for you when you will visit our dog center and meet our dogs.

I recently discovered that I was born in a wasteland. For years I believed that the meals I found on the street were a blessing. Scraps of leftovers that I picked out of the garbage. Dirty, polluted water from puddles on the road. I always felt hungry, often felt weak, and sometimes felt horrible pain. But I just thought that was part of living. I thought that was life, and it would never improve. I got used to it eventually.

The first time I became severely ill, I knew that feeling was not normal. When I experienced my first winter, I knew my body should not be shivering so violently, my paws frozen, and my body like ice. But another winter came and went. And many more passed.

Just as I was beginning to get used to my land, I saw something that terrified me and made me want to leave.
One of my kind, who was much thinner than me, was chained to a tree and beaten with wooden sticks by three men. I watched from a distance as they broke his back and legs, and as they bashed his head again and again. Finally, his body lay lifeless on the ground. At least dead, he could no longer suffer.

One of those awful men spat on the body before they all left laughing and celebrating. As I stood there trembling, I realized that I was still hearing the whimpers and cries in my head. I felt sad, angry, and scared — but I mostly felt guilty. I still do. I am haunted by the senseless violence of that night. The cruelty and total disrespect for life. The complete lack of compassion.

Before that day I had encountered many dead bodies on the street. At first, I thought they were sleeping, but when I found them days later in the same spot, I understood they were gone forever. I also encountered many humans. I liked them because they always smelled of delicious food, and would have clean water. But they never liked me when I approached them. They would always chase me away. I kept trying my luck, but I eventually gave up — even when the hunger was painful.

After that horrible killing, I avoided humans at all costs. But one day, I let down my guard… and they found me.
I tried to run but it was difficult. One of my back legs was broken (a car had hit me as I walked on the side of the road). There was no escape. Two men grabbed me and placed me in a van. I had never felt so frightened … and helpless. Would they chain and beat me like my poor dead friend? No. They took me to a place like heaven. At the ROLDA shelter, they treated my injuries and gave me food and water.

Today I call these two men Marian and Denis — my friends. I have many other friends here as well, humans and dogs. When my leg had healed, they gave me a name — Faraon. I no longer live in a wasteland. I share a comfortable home with hundreds of other dogs who have also been rescued. We receive food, shelter, medicine, exercise, and friendship.

I have been here for over two years now, and in that time I have seen many of my friends leave for new homes, and I have also welcomed new friends into our home here at ROLDA. I might be too old to go anywhere else now. I am not a beautiful dog, but my heart is forgiving and full of love. I long for a human family to call my own.
Some nights I can still hear the desperate cries of that poor dog I could not save, but I know that all of us here, myself included, could have suffered the same fate, had we not been saved and given a chance at life.

Most people forget that by adopting a dog they are saving a life.

ROLDA is one of the few dog shelters that have a no-kill policy. There are thousands of shelters where dogs are killed within 14 days if they are not claimed. In Romania alone, there are an estimated 2.5 million homeless dogs. We save as many as we can. We give them a second chance to end up in a loving home. Not dead in the street or a ditch. So when you’re considering welcoming a new pet into your life, please remember that senior dogs like Faraon do exist and many others, younger … and they deserve love too!

When you adopt or sponsor a dog from ROLDA, you save not one but two lives!

Visit Faraon and his friends and learn how you can save a life here (click on a dog photo).